The Next Essay-ish Series From Us

We promised that we’d do some things similar to the Sunday Essays once they were gone, and over the rest of the month, we’ll be doing one of those things.

I’ve been tuned in, of late, to the months—with their differences, their distinctions, their marking of the passage of time…all the things. I think part of this comes from living in Austin, where the combination of a divergent climate (the city straddles the divide between the Gulf Coastal Plains and Hill Country, creating something of a tug-of-war between the Houstonian wet heat and the West Texan desert) and the presence of both significant seasonal tourism and a massive university lead to more stark divides, month-to-month, than those with which I grew up in the Midwest (where the turning of the year was, outside of college towns, more gradient; and on the topic of the tourism and the university: the relationship between those and my part-time income put me in especially close touch with them).

I’ve also long been fascinated with the construction of albums by musical artists—which songs go where, how explicitly a story is being told (if one is being told at all), the energetic and emotional swells and recessions, etc.

Finally, I’m curious about the potential of songs as a vehicle in writing to tap into personal stories, thoughts, and memories, something I tried at times in the Sunday Essays. I’m not sure how effective a vehicle they are, but I’m curious enough to keep trying, and to dust off the old English major training in poetic exegesis.

So, on Friday, I’m going to put out a list of eleven songs that, to me, traverse the arc of August, and on Monday, I’m going to begin writing about each of them, individually. The songs will be ordered as an album, with an A side and a B side.

I don’t know if this is going to be any good. It might be for some but not for everyone. But we’re gonna try it out. See you Friday.

Editor. Occasional blogger. Seen on Twitter, often in bursts: @StuartNMcGrath
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